My first foray into Kingsman fan fiction. I'm not sure what happened to this, considering... =/
This is actually the idea of fortheunicornchild on Tumblr who discussed it with me and I ended up volunteering my services.
"If I'd known you were gonna stuff me in a suit, I wouldn't 'ave come up to speak t'ya in that club," Eggsy told Roxy, grimacing at himself in the mirror.
"You would have," Roxy retorted with a cheeky grin. She paused to tug one of his sleeves into place with a slight frown before glancing up at him with her grin back in place. "I'm delightful."
Eggsy snorted. "Sure."
"I am!" Roxy rolled her eyes and turned. "I'm going to get our masks."
He watched her go before turning to frown at himself some more. Roxy said he looked handsome: he thought he looked odd. Gone was his tracksuit and trainers, his beloved cap nowhere in sight. Instead, he was in his work 'uniform', the suit Roxy had insisted he get when he joined her and her friend's spy-themed bar venture. It was going well but he still felt a little strange wearing a suit in a pub in the middle of London. Thankfully, she had allowed him to wear a normal tie there instead of the bowtie now around his neck, a stark black against the washed and ironed white shirt. His shoes had been shined and, if he glanced down, he had to squint against the glare. For once, he was wearing cufflinks, new and fancy and glinting in the light. Finally, Roxy had given him a comb and forced him to style his hair with a parting rather than the mop he usually had it in.
All in all, he felt like an alien in his own skin.
Roxy bustled in and he turned to watch her enter. She was raring to go, wearing a long, red dress with black swirls at the bust. Her mask complimented this, painted black and decorated with red rhinestones. A few red and black feathers stuck out above her right ear and she looked equal parts elegant and mysterious. Roxy held out a second mask as she reached him, her heels tapping loudly in the silence. Eggsy glanced at it and frowned.
"What the-? Are you tryna make me look like the Phantom of the Opera or some shit?" he demanded, eyeing the completely white eye mask in distaste.
"It's not that bad!" Roxy protested. "Look! It doesn't go too far up your forehead and it doesn't go below your cheekbones." She held it up in front of his face and swivelled him around to force him to look into the mirror. Grudgingly, he admitted that he looked all right. Still looked like a pillock, though.
Sighing, Eggsy took the mask from Roxy. "Fine. Help me get it on."
After the farce that became (Eggsy had to bend his knees and almost overbalanced several times and the mask fell off just as often), Roxy ushered him out to the waiting limo. Eggsy eyed it with slight trepidation. Roxy came from money (though she didn't flaunt it often) and she had plenty of friends holding fancy parties for one reason or another. She had been invited to a masquerade ball and encouraged to bring someone along. Eggsy had been the first person she had seen since getting the e-vite and the first one she subsequently asked. Despite his initial misgivings, Roxy talked him 'round.
Frankly, he had been regretting it ever since.
They watched London roll by and Roxy tried to set him at ease with a constant stream of chatter about who he'd possibly meet and who to try to avoid, if he figured out who they were. Roxy promised to try to stay by him when they got there so she could steer him clear of the nastier people but she wouldn't be able to be there the whole time as she'd have to dance with others. Apparently, declining to do so could be considered rude, depending on the person. Eggsy thought of where he lived and the people he knew and wondered how there could be two different worlds in the same country.
Town-houses gave way to grubby flats before becoming suburbs. The limo drove slowly through the congestion and Eggsy could see people getting out of cabs or into them, dressed up and raring to go. He wondered what Ryan and Jamal were doing tonight and desperately wished for a proper pint and not a glass of rum and Coke. But the bar in the limo was limited and he had to make do.
Finally, they exited London and cruised along the motorway towards the north-west. Hedges and the silhouettes of cows and sheep were dotted about the fields. The darkening night cast shadows across the car and Eggsy watched them pass, trying to ignore Roxy watching him with concern.
"Are you nervous?" she asked, suddenly.
"What?" asked Eggsy, feigning confidence and scoffing. "Nah, I'm good, mate. I'll sweep some girl off her feet and make a night of it. Regular Phantom of the Opera shit."
"I do hope not," Roxy said in her snooty accent she reserved for making jokes. "The girls should have their feet on the ground if you're dancing properly."
Eggsy grimaced, reminded once again that he couldn't dance. Well, he could – just not ballroom dancing. He didn't feel as though he would ever be as graceful as Anton du Beke and he was hoping he could spend the night near the booze so he could get royally smashed. Roxy caught sight of his reaction and her eyes widened.
"Wait. Can you dance?" she hastily asked. Eggsy winced and, reluctantly, shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me?!" Roxy exclaimed.
"You made this thing seem real important, Rox. I couldn't let ya down. Figured I could get away with it somehow?" Roxy didn't look pleased and reached for a bottle of vodka, effectively killing his hopes. Hoping he could put a smile back on her face, Eggsy added, "And I din't want you to force me ta learn or something."
Roxy grumbled under her breath for a moment but finally decided against the vodka and set it back down. "Well, it's too late now, I suppose. I'll do what I can to keep people from asking you but you might have to dance eventually. Just... Try not to step on their feet too much."
"Maybe I could switch out the music and dance my way," Eggsy suggested with a shrug.
"I'm fairly sure they'd notice if you tried to get rid of the orchestra."
"Woah, seriously? They got a band?"
"Of course. What kind of Venetian themed masquerade ball would have a DJ?"
"A very sick Venetian themed masquerade ball."
Sighing, Roxy shook her head. "It doesn't matter now," she said. "We're here."
Raising an eyebrow, Eggsy turned to look out of the window and saw them pass through a gap in a hedge. A large, wrought iron gate was promptly closed behind them by a couple of guys in old-fashioned clothes. Eggsy felt sorry for them if that was their job; they looked downright ridiculous.
The limo proceeded up the gravel drive and, as they moved along it, lights became visible. As they got closer, the glow made the mansion visible, each window gleaming, either with a reflection or a light within. Faint noise filtered into the car above the humming of the limo's engine. Before their car were several others, all sleek and shiny and each one taken care of by a servant dressed in a similar fashion as the gatekeepers. Eggsy peered out as a man helped out a woman wearing a glittering, pink dress. She turned her head to speak to him and he saw a long beak stabbing outwards: it gave her the appearance of an oddly-shaped flamingo.
Finally, the limo drew up in front of the stairs. Eggsy went to open the door but Roxy put a hand on his arm and shook her head when he glanced back. They waited and another unfortunately dressed man hurried forward to open the door for them. Eggsy climbed out, paused and held out his hand to help Roxy from the car. His friend beamed up at him. Apparently, he had done the 'proper thing'.
They walked up the stairs, Eggsy keeping Roxy's hand in his to steady her; those heels were deadly in more ways than one. When they reached the top, Roxy spoke to another man, this one wearing a hat and what appeared to be a cheap Zorro mask. Eggsy raised his eyebrows at it but left Roxy to talk to him, busy watching the other men and women arriving. All of them wore colourful masks: some looked like animals; others had complicated designs; a few were merely bright colours. Slowly, Eggsy realised that he somewhat stood out in his black-and-white outfit. It made him think of the Penguin and he hoped he wouldn't be compared to that – even the Phantom of the Opera would be a better comparison.
Eventually, Roxy came back to Eggsy's side. "Sorry, I was just making sure he knew you were my plus one."
"Took ya a while, din't it?"
"I was making friendly conversation."
"Flirting?"
Roxy whacked him with her folded up fan, something else which matched her beautiful dress. It was also probably lethal in the wrong hands. Those 'wrong hands' included Roxy's, really. "Come on," she sighed, probably rolling her eyes behind her mask. "Let's get inside."
They passed through the huge doors and into the gigantic entrance hall. Eggsy stared at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, dripping down in a spiral. The floor was composed of gleaming white tiles. Across from them, a staircase wound around and up to the hidden landing above; it had a lush, red carpet covering the middle as though anyone walking up it was considered a VIP. To one side was an open set of doors which all the guests were wandering into or darting out to greet someone they had spotted entering the hall. On each side of the door stood two men wearing more of the old-fashioned clothing. Both of them looked bored, Eggsy noticed as they passed; the younger man's eyes had glazed over.
Entering the room, Eggsy marvelled at how large it was, an empty space for simply dancing. Tables were dotted around the outsides, each of them small, round, and surrounded by only four chairs decorated with deep red ribbons. At the far end of the room was a stage where a small orchestra was playing, almost bumping elbows as they played with passion. Calming music wafted over everyone and all the guests were dancing, reds and yellows and blues twisting and turning with precision. All of them chattered to each other, smiling widely with excitement or smirking as they flirted. Close to the door was a long table which extended the width of the room, laden with food and bottles of expensive booze. Floor to ceiling windows stretched along the length of the room on the opposite wall and a pair of doors were open. Eggsy presumed they led to the garden.
He scanned the room a second time and decided that, although beautiful, it was clearly a waste of space. How many rooms in this mansion went unused the majority of the time? The size of it made him feel small and much more uncomfortable than he already was.
A tugging at his sleeve made him look around to find Roxy smiling at him encouragingly. "It'll be fine," she told him. "Come on; let's get you a drink."
"All right," Eggsy mumbled, trying not to hunch in on himself. They walked over to the table and Roxy cast her eye over the bottles as she grabbed a couple of glasses. A bartender – another unfortunately dressed individual, this time with a mask – appeared from nowhere, startling Eggsy.
"What may I get you?" he said, his accent posher than Eggsy had expected from the staff.
"Hmm," Roxy said before nodding to herself. "I'll have a Cosmopolitan and my friend here will have a Climax."
"Coming right up," said the barman with a smirk, ignoring Eggsy's noise of protest.
Turning his frown on Roxy, Eggsy saw she was grinning cheekily. "What did ya do that for?!"
"Just a bit of fun," Roxy told him. "Besides, you'll probably like it."
"Fine. But if it's shit, I'm blaming you."
Both of them watched the barman mixing up their cocktails, Eggsy watching the man's flair. He decided he was definitely a better barman but still thanked the man when he handed him a white drink. It was creamy and tasted like chocolate banana with a hint of orange and almonds. After his first sip, he decided that he liked it, no matter that Roxy was giggling into her own pink drink at the sight of him. Before he could make some sort of witty comment, they were interrupted by a woman wearing a sequinned turquoise dress and matching mask.
"Roxanne, darling!" she cried, arms wide. Roxy gave an exclamation of excitement and hugged her acquaintance. They pecked each other's cheeks and Eggsy stepped back out of the way. He ignored their conversation and people-watched. Or, rather, animal-watched.
There went a bear, more cute than ferocious and made all the more odd since the man wearing it was huge and bulky. Over there was a cat and the woman had even gone so far as to wear ears and a tail. A reptile of some sort slithered through the crowd, looking for someone. Here came some sort of bird, the feathers on her dress adding to the illusion. Standing at the side of the room was a man wearing a bright and colourful bird mask – since he was also wearing a multi-coloured suit, Eggsy presumed he was supposed to be a peacock. Peacock turned his head in Eggsy's direction and seemed to spot him, straightening and openly looking him up and down. Eggsy resisted the urge to curl his lip in disgust. Thankfully, just as Peacock took a step in his direction, Eggsy was distracted by Roxy turning to him. He spotted her out of the corner of his eye and glanced over to find both her and Sequins gazing at him.
"This is my friend, Eggsy," Roxy told Sequins. "Eggsy, this is Sarah."
"Hello!" said Sarah with a giggle.
"Hi," Eggsy replied, glancing over to make sure Peacock wasn't approaching. The guy had disappeared so he turned a bright grin on Sarah. "Nice to meetcha."
"Charmed," she said, holding out her hand. Eggsy gave Roxy a nervous glance and his friend nodded so he raised Sarah's hand to quickly kiss it. Sarah giggled again and Eggsy knew that she was going to be one of Those Girls. He glanced at Roxy again but she was looking past them. Looking over, he spotted Reptile slithering over.
"There you are Sarah!" he cried, stopping beside the trio. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Roxanne's here!" she told him, dragging Roxy into his line of sight. Roxy swiftly smoothed out her grimace at being manhandled and smiled charmingly at Reptile. She offered her hand and Reptile hastily completed the ritual of kissing her hand. When he straightened, Eggsy noted the red in his cheeks.
"Hello, Robert," Roxy said.
"Good evening," he breathed.
"This is my friend, Eggsy," Roxy repeated.
"Hi, mate," Eggsy said, offering his hand. Robert shook it, though Eggsy didn't miss the slight hesitation to do so. "Good ta see ya." Robert frowned at him, probably because he hadn't bothered with doctoring his accent.
Robert returned his attention back to Roxy. "I was hoping I would see you tonight. Would you care for a dance?"
"Of course!" Roxy exclaimed, cheerfully. She glanced at Eggsy and he raised an eyebrow – was she about to tell him to behave himself? "Why don't you ask Sarah for a dance?"
Eggsy froze at the suggestion but Sarah bobbed up and down, clapping her hands together in glee. "Oh, yes, let's!"
"Are you sure that's wise...?" Robert asked, frowning at Eggsy even more.
"They'll be fine," Roxy assured him. "Your sister is in safe hands."
It could only be called an unmitigated disaster. At first, it went all right, Eggsy constantly glancing down to make sure he didn't step on Sarah's feet and counting the steps in his head. After a while, the chattering Sarah noticed his inattention and laughingly told him to look at her. Almost as soon as he had done so, he had practically stomped on her foot. She had cried out and Eggsy had had to help her to a chair at the side.
A few moments later, Robert hurried over. "Sarah? Are you all right?"
"I, er," said Eggsy, "stepped on her foot."
Frowning at him, Robert looked back at his sister and sighed. "Come along, you – I'll help you somewhere to get something for it."
"There's no need," Sarah assured them, despite the fact that it looked swollen to Eggsy.
"Nonsense," said Roxy when she caught up to them, frowning. "That looks like it needs ice. Go rest up and you'll be back to the party in no time."
"Sorry, love," Eggsy said with a wince as Robert helped Sarah up and out of the ballroom. He turned to Roxy who looked equal parts amused and stern. "Sorry, Rox. I told ya I can't dance. She gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, she'll be fine. But I think we should try to avoid offering you up as a dance partner." She grinned at him and Eggsy smiled back.
"Thank fuck."
"Come on, have a seat. Relax a little. You're looking rather tense." Roxy sat down on the chair Sarah had vacated.
Eggsy sat beside her. "I'm never coming ta one of these again," he told her.
She chuckled. "If you practise, you'll get better at it."
"Like I'll actually practise this."
Roxy laughed at that, hiding her mouth behind her fan. Suddenly, however, she stopped, her fan snapped closed and she frowned at something beyond Eggsy. "Oh, God. Don't look now but here comes Charlie. And I advise you to just say yes to avoid a scene."
"Huh?"
Before Eggsy could turn fully, something colourful appeared in his line of sight and he glanced up to find Peacock standing over him. He blinked up at him, wondering if he was going to give him grief for looking at him earlier. And what did Roxy mean by 'say yes'?
"Hello, there," drawled the man, his eyes obviously raking over Eggsy. He had to suppress a shudder as Peacock slowly let a smirk spread across his face. It felt like the man had assessed him and deemed him worthy of his interest, worthy of spending the night with him, as if the man felt he was superior to everyone else. Eggsy instantly wanted to say no to whatever his request would be. Peacock turned to Roxy then and smiled politely at her. "Morton," he said, by way of greeting. "Always a pleasure."
"Hesketh," Roxy responded with a slight dismissive wave of her fan. "Likewise." She pointed her fan at Eggsy. "This is my friend, Eggsy."
"Eggsy?" Hesketh said, obviously confused.
"Yes. Eggsy, this is Charlie."
Charlie regained his composure and held out his hand. Presuming he wanted to shake hands, Eggsy took it and was nearly pulled clear from his seat when Charlie pulled it to his lips and pressed a kiss to Eggsy's knuckles. It lingered for a spell too long. "Hello...?" was all Eggsy could think to say, glancing at Roxy with a stunned expression.
"May I have this dance, Eggsy?" Charlie asked, not letting go of Eggsy's hand.
Trying not to grimace, Eggsy sent one last pleading look at Roxy before he turned back to Charlie and nodded. "All right. You leading or me?"
For a second, Eggsy watched a flash of disgust cross Charlie's face, probably in response to Eggsy's accent. Eggsy once again restrained his own lip curling. As it was, they were both trapped: Charlie had offered and Eggsy had accepted. Eggsy doubted he'd ever hear the end of it if he backed out now. So, clearly, Charlie grabbed at the dignity he could reserve, for he hastily said, "Me."
"Fine. C'mon then." Eggsy stood and Charlie, gripping his hand a little too tightly, dragged him into the middle of the room for the second time that night. It was likely going to be a disaster. Charlie manhandled him into position and he growled, "Watch it."
"Do shut up."
Eggsy grunted as Charlie shoved him backwards a little, glaring at Charlie's shoulder. "I thought the point of this was to talk to each other."
Without responding, Charlie twisted his grip on Eggsy's hand, twisting his wrist a little in the process. Eggsy resisted for long enough that they both had to let go and reposition them. Then Charlie grabbed his other wrist and pulled it up to Charlie's shoulder. Eggsy grimaced at the treatment. When Charlie finally placed his free hand at the small of Eggsy's back, making him feel uncomfortable, Eggsy decided that he didn't quite care if he stepped on the bastard's feet.
Besides, he deserved it, wearing that ridiculous suit.
"This how you treat all your girls?" he asked, raising his glare to Charlie's mask.
"Shut up," Charlie repeated. There was a pause in the conversation as they began the dance, Eggsy concentrating on his footwork. Then Charlie piped up again. "I didn't know you were a pleb."
"Sorry for the inconvenience," Eggsy told him in his best posh toff voice. "I did know you're an arsehole."
Charlie's grip on his hand tightened till it was verging on painful. Eggsy had the feeling it would only get worse. They stared each other down – and Eggsy quickly distracted Charlie by accidentally stepping on Charlie's toes.
The man winced and his grip loosened, relief sweeping over Eggsy. Quickly, he glanced down and made sure his feet were back in the right place. "What's this?" asked Charlie. Eggsy glanced up just in time to catch his sneer. "Can't dance?" Charlie laughed at that; Eggsy's brow furrowed.
"Maybe it's you who can't dance, bruv," Eggsy retorted, though he knew it was a weak comeback.
"Hardly. I've been praised regularly on my dancing. I've even won competitions. What have you done?"
"A lot more important stuff than you, clearly."
They glared at each other and Eggsy was satisfied to catch Charlie's wince when he stepped on his toes again. Charlie's grip on Eggsy's hand tightened. Eggsy stubbornly looked down to watch their feet and, this time, deliberately stood on Charlie's whole foot, placing all his weight behind it before he stumbled off and went back to attempting to dance.
There followed a rather lengthy period where Eggsy continuously stepped on Charlie's feet, Charlie kicked his shin in retaliation and both of them were holding onto the other's hand so tightly their knuckles were white. Insults were traded, Charlie attempting to use fancy words to bamboozle Eggsy – he merely replied with his own insults such as, "Prick."
Finally, the music stopped and they both dropped their hands as though they'd been burnt. Charlie glared for a moment then scoffed and walked away. Ignoring the throbbing in his shins and the pain in his hand, Eggsy stomped off, veering in the direction of Roxy who was thanking a man with a bird mask for their dance. The man saw him coming, gave Roxy's hand a quick kiss and excused himself which was a good idea as Eggsy reached Roxy and immediately snapped at her.
"That's it. No more dancing. Fucking 'ell, that was 'orrible! I'm not dancing with these fuckers." He paused as he took a deep breath, relaxing a little. "'Cept for you. I'll dance with you."
"Not sure I want to be stood on," Roxy replied, looking amused. "But, if you don't want to dance, I suppose you don't have to. Just try not to be rude about it, hm?"
"I'll try." He glanced in the direction of where Charlie could be seen, obviously talking about him and laughing with his friends. "'Cept for him – he's a right cock."
Roxy happened to be very popular with men and women alike and Eggsy found himself bored at the edge of the dance floor. He was on his fourth drink, still felt sober and desperately wanted a pint. The food was nice enough but he'd eaten his fill and didn't have much else to do. So he found himself sidling along the walls to the open glass doors.
By that point, everyone was steering clear of him. A lot of women had approached, hoping to entice him into a dance. However, he merely kept up a conversation until someone with a keen eye pulled them away and into intimate dances, clearly more to their liking: none of them ever came back to him. Those that asked him were given a firm no and a warning glare. They sighed, gave up and moved on. Every time Roxy approached him, someone else intercepted her: Eggsy was beginning to suspect that Charlie had something to do with it.
So he slipped out into the night air (a little chillier than he expected) and took a look around. The doors led to a large, square veranda. At the two far corners were stairs leading to the garden proper. There was actually enough room to have a second ball out there and some people had opted for the privacy, most of them dancing slowly, pressed up against each other. One couple had taken seats at one of the few tables and chairs set up there and were in the process of snogging. They were close to the doors and the noise was rather disturbing so Eggsy quickly hurried by them to go stand at the stone balustrade. There, he leaned on it, arms folded, arse sticking out a little (not that he cared much), and looked out over what he could see of the garden.
As far as he could tell with the limited light, there was a large expanse of grass which went on forever in each direction. There were paths criss-crossing through it. Some people had opted to wander along them, hand in hand, enjoying each other's company. Off in the distance, Eggsy could see a hedge. Since everything was dark and uninteresting, he turned his gaze upwards and stared at the stars he couldn't see when he was in London. The moon was out, as well, crescent-shaped.
"Excuse me," said a deep voice from behind him. Eggsy spun around, overbalanced because of his previous position and ended up leaning against the balustrade, using his elbows to keep himself upright. Catching his breath, he surveyed the person who had spoken.
The man was taller than him with perfectly combed hair. He wore a tight-fitting suit and shiny black shoes, the laces tied exactly the same way on both. A champagne glass was in his hand, the light from the ballroom glinting off it. However, Eggsy couldn't tear his eyes from the man's face which, of course, was covered with a mask. This time, the man wore a large butterfly one. It was unlike the butterfly masks he had seen women wearing, small and delicate and usually glittering. Instead, it was a bright blue-green with black markings. The 'body' covered the man's nose and was a rather bright yellow. Basically, it looked as though a giant butterfly had decided to land on his face and stay there.
"Er," said Eggsy. "Yeah?"
"You seemed despondent. I was wondering if you needed me to bring you a drink or keep you company," the man answered.
"Nah, it's fine, mate."
"Hmm," the man said. There was a pause wherein Eggsy wondered whether he should say anything. Then Butterfly-Man held out his hand. "My name is Harry Hart. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Eggsy was a little thrown: all night, people had used that same phrase but the 'pleasure' had always been stressed. In those interested, it was drawled and usually accompanied with a wink or a waggle of their eyebrows. For the times he came across people like Charlie and that one old guy with a devil mask, the 'pleasure' was accompanied with a sneer and Eggsy knew they were being sarcastic and amusing themselves. With Harry the Butterfly-Man, he seemed much more sincere.
"Er," Eggsy repeated. "I'm Eggsy Unwin." He took Harry's hand and shook it.
"Did something happen?" asked Harry, moving to lean on the balustrade beside him, gazing out at the dark garden. Eggsy turned to his original position and shook his head. "Then why so glum, Mister Unwin?"
"Just call me Eggsy," he told the man. "I'm just bored."
"No-one's asked you to dance?"
"They have: I can't."
There was a silence. Then Harry moved beside him and Eggsy looked up to see him downing his champagne. He left the glass on the balustrade and stepped back. "Well," he said as Eggsy straightened and turned to him, wondering what was happening. "Perhaps you need a better teacher than the ones before. Would you care to allow me the honour of this dance?"
Shocked, Eggsy stared at Harry's outstretched hand. He had thought his short answer would have scared him off as it had the others. Why on Earth would he want to dance with someone who had admitted he was rubbish at? Shouldn't this man want to go back inside and find some pretty woman to twirl with?
But, apart from Harry having sore feet by the end of it, what harm could it do to indulge him? "All right..." said Eggsy, slowly, taking Harry's hand.
Harry smiled at him and lifted Eggsy's hand so he could give his it a kiss. Startled, Eggsy froze for a second, eyes wide behind his mask. Spotting Harry's small smile, Eggsy felt his cheeks heat and he had to avert his gaze.
"We can dance out here," Harry explained. "That way you need not worry about other dancers – we have enough space."
"Right," said Eggsy, glancing back up at Harry. He let Harry rearrange them, gently manoeuvring Eggsy's hands into position. His grip on Eggsy's was light and his hand at the small of his back felt much safer than Charlie's. Eggsy began to feel more at ease: he didn't need to lead and there wasn't someone about to break his hand. Thankful, he smiled at Harry, a little nervously.
"Are you ready?" asked Harry.
"Uh, yeah."
"We'll go slowly at first and you may look at your feet to see where they must go. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."
Inside, the music started up again and, carefully, Harry began to guide Eggsy around the veranda. As they went, Harry murmured, "One, two, three", keeping Eggsy right. After some time, Eggsy realised that he hadn't stepped on Harry once and he was beginning to step without thinking about it. Risking it, he looked up at Harry and found him watching Eggsy's progress. He smiled and Eggsy blushed again.
"You're a pretty good teacher," Eggsy commented.
"I have a brilliant student. I'm sure you would perform admirably with anyone patient enough."
Eggsy snorted in disbelief. "Doubt that, mate."
"You don't need to believe me," Harry said, smiling wider. "But it is the truth. Look at how quickly you've improved already."
Cheeks turning red again, this handsome man's compliments making him breathless like no-one's had before, Eggsy averted his gaze. Searching for a change in topic, his eyes darted around and finally landed on Harry's mask. "So, um." He paused to clear his throat before continuing. "What's with the butterfly?"
"Ah. This is an Ornithoptera alexandrae."
"Eh?"
"Its English name is Queen Alexandra's birdwing – the largest butterfly in the world. The mask has been made to the same measurements."
"What, y'mean that's how big it is?!"
"Indeed."
"Christ! It's huge. Compensating for something?" Eggsy winked at Harry, forgetting that he couldn't see.
"Hardly," Harry replied with a snort. "Its wingspan is shorter than me."
Silence descended as Eggsy boggled at Harry's confidence – and then the realisation that Harry was flirting with him hit him. Once he'd regained control of his brain, Eggsy said, "Huh. Well... I'd love ta see that." And he really would. There were probably plenty of empty rooms in the upper floors of the mansion and lots of privacy. Maybe they could head upstairs and find somewhere for a bit of fun.
"I'm afraid I'm the kind of man to take a partner out on dates before showing them."
"Disappointing, Harry," Eggsy said, grinning cheekily at him.
"I'm sure you won't be," Harry murmured, his smile still firmly in place. Once again, Eggsy's breath caught in his throat and he watched Harry as they spun around, forgetting everything else around them. Eggsy found himself wishing that the moment would stretch on forever, his heart beating quickly and his body heated throughout.
Unfortunately, reality decided to come crashing back down on him when the music stopped. The couples within the ballroom stopped and separated, applauding the orchestra politely. Harry and Eggsy didn't separate when they stopped, gazing at each other. Then, with a murmured apology, Harry stepped away, letting his arms lower. Eggsy's fell heavily, his body mourning the loss of Harry's touch though he knew he couldn't stop Harry leaving. They looked at each other for several more seconds.
"I'm sure you can now dance with others," Harry told him. "If you are leading, merely reverse the steps. So stop moping about at the edge of the dance floor. It was terribly distracting."
"Hey, it ain't my-" Eggsy began but he cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath when Harry gently took his hand again.
"Good evening," Harry murmured, lips brushing against Eggsy's knuckles before he pressed a firm and lingering kiss to the back of his hand. With that, he swept away, his coattails bobbing behind him as he hurried off.
When Eggsy returned to the ballroom, still thinking of Harry, he bumped into a lonely looking woman. Without thinking, he asked her to dance and, soon, he was making his way through dance partners. He felt a lot calmer and relaxed – not once did he look at his feet, though he sometimes missed what someone was saying because he was counting and sometimes he stumbled. No-one seemed to mind, enjoying his company now that he wasn't feeling down. Eventually, he found Roxy again who beamed and beckoned him over.
"Guess what?!" she exclaimed. "We've got new investors for the bar!"
"Really?" asked Eggsy, raising an eyebrow. "Did we need new investors?"
"Well, we're not making as much as we were when we opened, what with the competition in that area, but these men decided to invest anyway. Not sure why the second guy wanted to..."
"Who are they?" Eggsy glanced around the room. "Point them out to me-"
"Ah! Merlin!" Roxy said, smiling at the bird man from earlier who was walking towards them. "I didn't expect to see you again tonight."
"My friend and I are leaving," Merlin said, stepping aside to reveal Harry. The masked man smiled widely at Eggsy in acknowledgement and, as his heart skipped a beat, Eggsy gave him a little wave. "We wanted to say goodbye," Merlin added, glancing at Eggsy and back at Roxy rather meaningfully. Both Harry and Eggsy stepped away to leave them to it.
"I saw you dancing earlier," Harry told Eggsy.
"Yeah. Had a really good teacher, din't I? Thanks, by the way."
"Not at all. I can't abide seeing people upset at these parties."
Eggsy laughed. "So you're a knight in shining armour, yeah?"
"I suppose I am," Harry replied with a knowing smile.
"Thanks for saving me, then."
"Any time, Eggsy."
"Harry," said Merlin. Both men looked over at him and the bird-man tilted his head. "Are you coming?" Merlin's lip twitched as if he wanted to smile (or smirk) but just about managed to hold it back.
"Ah. One moment." Harry turned to Eggsy. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Eggsy. I'm sure I'll run into you when we meet with Roxanne in a few days. Until then." Harry gently took Eggsy's hand and, before Eggsy could react, he pressed another kiss to his knuckles. Then he was gone, striding after Merlin who led the way through the crowd.
After they had left his sight, Eggsy was quickly distracted by Roxy's quiet squealing. She grinned widely and Eggsy couldn't keep his own back: getting to see Harry again would definitely be a pleasure.
I think this went in a strange direction... Charlie was only in it to make Eggsy feel worse so Harry would make him feel loads better in the end. Charlie's lurking around for a third of this. Whoops.
Anyways, Roxy's mask is my attempt at describing one I saw on the Internet. Merlin's mask is actually shaped like a merlin bird. So.
Oh, and, I never did decide what Harry and Merlin did for a living. Maybe they're in Kingsman, maybe they're just rich businessmen. Or maybe they're very successful thieves who were robbing the rich and were booking it and that's why they were leaving. We'll never know.